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Proceedings of the 
Donation and Dedication 

Of the Eighty-two Feet Steel Liberty Pole 

at the Park in Garnavillo, Iowa 

November 7, A. D. 

1918 



Nineteen Eighteen 



. Q-Z OrZ 



Program of Dedication 

AVitli the Garnavillo Cornet Band playing "Hail Co- 
lumbia," the furled United States Standard Flag was 
raised to the summit of the pole and unfurled, to the 
breeze by Miss Lucia Roggman. 

Star Spangled Banner By the Band 

Invocation F. Q. Brown of Epworth Seminary 

' ' God our Father, we are very grateful to Thee for 
this occasion, the occasion that In'ings us together in 
dedicating this pole to the cause of liberty and right- 
eousness. 

"We thank Thee for this flag, for what it has meant 
in the past, and for what it means today, standing al- 
ways as it has stood, for the cause of humanity, the 
overthrow of oppression, and the freeing of peoples 
everywhere. 

' ' We are grateful to Thee for the one who, out of the 
bigness of Ms heart, presents this pole to this city of 
Garnavillo. 

"We are asking Thee that as the childhood of this 
town shall watch from day to day this emblem of the 
free, there shall come to their own hearts a deeper ap- 
preciation of this great country that Thou hast given to 
them. 

"Bless, we pray Thee, Judge Crosby, who for so many 
years has lived in this community and has stood for the 
things that were for the bettering of humanity and the 
advancement of the Kingdom of God. 

' ' May Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done in all 
our hearts constantly, for Jesus' sake. Amen." 

James 0. Crosby of Garnavillo: To this nature's 
beauty spot, the Garnavillo Park, I donate this steel 
Liberty Pole, and dedicate it to "the self-evident truth 
that all men are created equal ; that tlie Creator has en- 
dowed them with certain, unalienable rights ; that among 
these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. 



ry 



That to secure these rights Governments are instituted 
among men deriving their just powers from the consent 
of the governed." 

Acceptance by Mayor H. C. Kuenzel: Mr. Crosby, 
in behalf of the town of Garnavillo, I accept this fine 
tiag pole as a gift to the town, and extend to you our 
most hearty thanks. 

■ Surely, we are pleased and delighted and shall ahvays 
endeavor to give it the best of care, that it may remain 
standing here many years yet to come, a pleasant re- 
minder of the giver. 

Procession under direction of Mr. Henry Luehsen, led 
by the band to the Turner Hall, to the tune of ' ' Never 
Let the Old Flag Fall. ' ' 

Seated on the platform. Prof. W. H. Crogman of 
Clark University, Atlanta, Georgia, D. D. Murphy, El- 
kader, chairman of Iowa State Board of Education, 
President C. P. Colegrove and wife of Upper Iowa Uni- 
versity, President F. Q. Brown and wife of Ep worth 
Seminary, Pastor C. Bosholm of St. Peter's, and Pastor 
K. AV. Braun of St. Paul's Church, Mayor H. C. Kuen- 
zel, A. H. Stiekford, president school board, Miss Lucy 
Roggman at the piano, James 0. Crosby presiding. 

Violin Solo, Mrs. F. Q. Brown with piano accompani- 
ment. 

Prayer for Peace — Rev. C. Bosholm. 

We beseechThee, Lord, in Thy loving kindness to 
abate the cruelties of war. Incline the hearts of those 
engaged therein to moderation. Mercifully cast out the 
evil spirit that delights in wanton destruction and the 
ruthless slaughter of the innocent and the helpless. 
Bring to naught the counsels of the ungodly ; and shed 
abroad among the nations that divine charity which is 
the fulfilling of the law. 

Be' pleased, Lord, by the tranquil working of Thy 
perpetual Providence speedily to remove all causes and 
occasions of war, and hasten the day when all the peo- 
ples of the earth may dwell together in harmany and 
mutual understanding as one family in tlie bonds of a 
just and lasting peace — and to Thee be the praise for- 
ever. Amen. 



Mr. Crosby introduces Prof. Crogman. 
The world is engaged in the most horrid, cruel war 
that has ever been waged during the period of which we 
have any history, and all, up to the present, have come 
to an end, and now the present war is beginning to draw 
to a close. 

When peace comes the nations will proceed to adjust 
national and international affairs, and to build anew, 
iipon a higher plane, a new life, and will have before 
them the Declaration of the Independence of the United 
States, which is the grandest public, governmental doc- 
ument that ever emanated from the mind of man ; and 
will also have before them the form and history of the 
government of the United States of America, the most 
perfect model in exi.stence, to serve for information, 
instruction and adoption. 

It is nevertheless a fact, that since the fall of man 
there has been an unceasing contest between the right 
and the wrong, the good and the evil. 

The institution of slavery was incorporated into our 
Constitution as an unavoidable evil, and a four years' 
civil war was necessary to remove its foul blot from our 
national escutcheon. 

When as a military necessity, the proclamation of 
Abraham Lincoln in 1863 broke the chains of slavery, 
and added millions of ignorant citizens to our nation, 
with minds benumbed by slavery ; the white race impov- 
erished by the war which they began, and the loss of 
property they held in slaves, created a bitter hatred to- 
wards those they had robbed of all their toil for centur- 
ies'and treated as chattels, having no rights a white man 
was bound to respect ; who had suddenly from chattels 
become persons equal with themselves before the law. 
It was an unreasoning, bitter hatred against them whom 
they had robbed. 

Mr. Lincoln in his second inaugural said: "Fondly 
do we hope, fervently do we pray that this mighty 
scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God 
wills that it continue till all the Avealth piled up by the 
bondman's 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, 
and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be 
paid by another drawn by the sword; as was said 3000 



years ago: 'The judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether.' " 

The history of the world shows no parallel to the pro- 
gress made by the race of slaves since they became free- 
men, including education, character and wealth. 

To a great extent the white race entertains strong 
prejudice and bitter hatred against the colored; and 
being the subjects of that prejudice and hatred, the col- 
ored lack confidence in their ability to receive from the 
whites the equal justice to which the laws entitle them. 

In our nation are ten millions of the colored race and 
90,000,000 of the white, and the existing discord is de- 
structive of the necessary harmony to administer suc- 
cessfully "a government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people." 

Education and experience are necessary to eradicate 
this great evil. Recently we have learned the necessity 
and value of preparedness. It is not too early to begin 
the requisite education, and that is the meaning of this 
Liberty Pole celebration. 

I have the honor and the pleasure to introduce to 
you Prof. W. H. Crogman, whom I met 34 years ago in 
his class room of Clark University, Atlanta, Georgia, of 
which he has since been for seven years its president ; 
and I ask for him your undivided attention. 

Ladies and Gentlemen : Prof. Crogman. 

PROF. CROGMAN 'S SPEECH 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: I am not in- 
sensible, I assure you, to the very great honor conferred 
upon me today by the invitation to be present and share 
with you in the exercises of this hour. And yet I would 
by no means leave the impression that I regard the honor 
as strictly intended for me, but, through me, for the 
race of which I am but a humble representative — the 
race whose brave sons, shoulder to shoulder and side by 
side with your own heroic men, are fighting, bleeding, 
suffering, dying in order that rigliteousness may prevail 
in the earth, and that even-handed and exact justice may 
be meted out to mankind everywhere of whatever nation- 
ality or race or class or creed or color. It is in this 
sense and in this spirit that I accept the honor. It is in 



this sense and in this spirit that I accepted the invita- 
tion, and under most foreboding circumstances under- 
took the journey to this place, and it is in this sense and 
in this spirit that I have accepted every courtesy and 
consideration shown me since my arrival in your beauti- 
ful town. When the people in the section of country 
wiiere I live shall learn of my having been here and of 
the errand on which I came they will, I am sure, in- 
stinctively feel that the colored people of the South have 
some warm-hearted, sympathetic friends in the state of 
Iowa. 

But, watchman, what of the night? What message 
am I expected to bring to the stalwart, enlightened peo- 
ple of the great west, what words of encouragement or 
admonition from the sunny South, land of the mocking 
bird and the magnolia? Of course, it is to be expected, 
whenever a black man steps on a public platform, that 
whatever else his speech may be and however much it 
may lack in other qualities, it can never fail to be pretty 
highly-colored.. Gentlemen of your own race can afford 
to discuss philosophical questions, to delve into the mys- 
terious depths of metaphysics, to lecture to you on art, 
science, literature, politics, anything, everything by 
which they may please, entertain, instruct. To all such 
subjects, tempting though they be, the negro is obliged 
to say, ' ' Go thy way for this time. When I have a more 
convenient season I will call for thee." For the negro 
on a public platform there is really but one subject to 
discuss, one subject that, like Aaron's serpent, swallows 
up all the rest, namely, the uplift of black humanity in 
these United States. Personally, hoAvever, I may say 
that I regard it very unfortunate for the colored people 
that by force of circumstances their thoughts are kept 
revolving about race interests and race issues; for tlie 
habitual concentration of one's thoughts upon any single 
subject must tend to make the mind narrow, provincial, 
one-sided. For this reason, therefore, I earnestly cherish 
the hope that at least one result of this war, this awful 
war, this man-devouring war, this war that has shaken 
the whole earth and made nations hold their breath, will 
be the enlargement of liberty and opportunity for the 
negro, so that with an unfettered mind he may think 



like other men, aspire like other men. It would be a 
sheer waste of time, if not unpardonable folly, to under- 
take to convince an audience of your intellectuality that 
such an enlargement of liberty and opportunity would 
transform the Negro into an infinitely more valuable 
citizen than he ever can be under present conditions. 
It would give him a broader, more hopeful outlook upon 
life, a larger, more vital interest in the fundamental af- 
fairs of government, and by so doing would educate him 
in the only way a citizen can be educated for high civic 
responsibilities, namely, by the unhampered exercise of 
his civic rights. 

What is the present situation? Ten million of Ameri- 
can citizens practically disfranchised, ten million of 
American citizens without a'voice in any legislative hall, 
state or national, ten million of American citizens who 
have no part whatever in the making or administering 
of the laws by which they are governed, by which they 
are taxed, by which they are drafted. Tried by white 
juries, sentenced by white judges, hanged by white sher- 
iffs, lynched by white mobs, in what sense can a Negro 
be regarded or regard himself an American citizen ac- 
cording to the interpretation of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and the Constitution of the United States'? Do 
you know that somewhat over two thousand negro lives 
have been taken since Emancipation without the shadow 
of a trial, the inquest usually being, "came to his death 
by the hands of unknown parties?" The lynching evil, 
like all other evils, small at first, and confining its oper- 
ations to the darkness of the night, has become a high 
noon affair, and of such frequent occurrence as to be 
almost a pleasure and pastime. Not so long ago a negro 
was found hanging to a tree in the state of Kentucky, 
with a card attached to him bearing these words, "We 
found nothing against this fellow, but lynched him on 
general principles." But a few months ago a woman 
was lynched for ' ' making unwise remarks, ' ' the remarks 
being her indignation expressed for the lynching of her 
husljand. 

As to the negro's chance before the courts, I will read 
you a passage from the liook I have in my hand, a l)ook 
written by a southern lady who represents all that is 

•7 



best in the traditions of the South. For many years 
now with tongue and with pen, without fear and without 
favor, she has been advocating the cause of humanity 
and pleading for justice to the negro. She says : 

In a newspaper of a Southern city I read recently a 
report of the court proceedings of the day before. The 
first case tried was that of a white man, some thirty 
years of age, who had violated the white slave law. He 
had abducted a girl of sixteen from her home, and was 
using her for immoral gain. The judge, in sentencing 
him, dwelt at length on the preciousness of that of which 
the child had been robbed ; but added that he had decid- . 
ed to make the sentence a light one, because the law was 
new, and not very widely understood. He gave the man 
one year in prison. 

The next case, according to the paper, was that of a 
negro boy of twenty. He had stolen eleven dollars and 
forty-six cents. The evidence was convincing; but the 
judge said he would give him also a light sentence. His 
reason was not, as it might have been, that the law 
against the offence was new. It is just as new as the 
other one, having been promulgated at the same time, on 
a mountain on the Sinaitic peninsula. But the Judge's 
reason- for mercy, he said, was that the evidence clearly 
showed that the boy had never had any chance in life. 
His parents had both died in his infancy, and nobody 
else had wanted him. He had grown up, no one know 
how, beaten from pillar to post, uncared for, untaught. 
So the judge decided on mercy, and gave him three 
years. 

I do not at this time raise the question of the wisdom 
of time-sentences, in these or in any cases; that will be 
taken up later. The point is that the value of the child 's 
honour and a mother's happiness, when stolen by a. ma- 
tured white man, was assessed at one year in prison ; 
and the value of eleven dollars and forty-six cents, when 
stolen by a young negro waif, was assessed at three years 
in the same place. 

Under conditions of this kind, is it strange that within 
the last two years about a quarter of a million of black 
people have migrated from the South to the North and 
West, chiefly to the West, entailing upon you new bur- 



dens and new responsibilities? To me the one strange 
thing was the spontaneity, suddenness, and universality 
of the movement. No one seems to know who started it. 
There was no Peter the Hermit to lead the black cru- 
sade. The preachers, hitherto leaders of the people, 
were helpless to check the movement, although it meant 
the disorganizing of their churches and the scattering of 
their membership. The schools were similarly affected. 
Almost every week students would appear at my desk 
to announce their departure and bid good-bye, saying 
that their parents were moving to the North, usually to 
Detroit. Poor Detroit ! I fear she has had more than 
her share of this thankless burden to bear. I have 
learned, however, that %vith great efficiency and mag- 
nanimity she is handling the embarrassing situation. 

Parenthetically, I may say that I am somewhat exer- 
cised in my thought with reference to the impression 
these black masses are to make in the aggregate on the 
minds of the northern people. Undoubtedly you will 
have an opportunity to see the good and the bad among 
us, the industrious and the indolent among us, the reli- 
able and the unreliable among us, the virtuous and the 
vicious among us. Be patient. Be charitable, and when: 
the final verdict is rendered may it be such as to re- 
flect credit on all concerned. Personally I am optimis- 
tic with reference to the success of my people under fair 
conditions and just treatment, especially when I con- 
sider their achievements within one-half century of free- 
dom, under embarrassing circumstances. Left empty- 
handed, almost naked, fifty years ago, they are said to- 
day to be owners of almost a billion dollars worth of 
property. I have here the recent report of the Comp- 
troller General of Georgia, showing the value of negro 
owned property in the state, together with its annual in- 
crease. The itemized report would be interesting to 
hear, but shortness of time does not permit the reading. 
Suffice it to say that the aggregate value of negro-owned 
property in the state of Georgia for the year 1918 is 
$47,423,449, an increase of $7,135,528 over the returns 
of 1917. That which encourages me most is not simply 
the aggregate of property acquired but the vSteady and 
uniform increase annually. Now, what has been achieved 



in Georgia we have every reason to believe has been more 
or less achieved in the other states of the South. 

Evidently it is not to the best interests of Georgia or 
of the South to be bereft of her black population by mi- 
gration, forced or voluntary. Yet it required nothing ■ 
less than such a wholesale, determined movement on the 
part of the negro to impress this fact upon the South. 
The press, up to that time almost unanimous in its dec- 
laration that the progress of the South was retarded by 
its shiftless, unreliable negro labor, suddenly became as 
unanimous in its declaration that, through unjust treat- 
ment of the negro the South was in danger of losing its 
most reliable and satisfactory source of labor. The ut- 
terances on the part of individuals were, if possible, more 
pronounced than those on the part of the press. I quote 
one as t^^pical of all: 

Editor Constitution: No one living in the South can 
help feeling thankful that if scores of negroes were to be 
murdered by white mobs the atrocity did not occur in 
the South, where we have lynchings too many already. 

But will you not allow a southern woman to suggest 
that it would be well for our legislature, in inviting the 
negroes who have gone North to come back, to assure 
them of better protection in Georgia, as regards both 
life and property, than has hitherto been accorded to 
them in some parts of our state? 

The resolutions, as published, seem to make light of 
our own shortcomings, though that, doubtless, was not 
intended. None of us can feel that the murder of 75 
negroes and the burning of hundreds of homes in one 
state makes the murder of five and the burning of 
churches and lodges in another state a trivial matter. 

It is estimated that the negro exodus will this year 
cost the South $200,000,000. In many cities, including 
Atlanta, leading white citizens have met to call in lead- 
ing colored men and ask them why their people leave. 
In every city and state where this has been done the ne- 
groes have put this lack of state-wide security as a 
leading cause of the exodus. One unpunished unlawful 
act in a single county fills the negroes of a whole state 
with uneasiness, lest their own section be the next place 
for an outbreak. The punishment of the leaders of one 

10 



mob in the south would do more to luring the negroes 
back and to stabilize our labor supply than a score of 
resolutions from every southern legislature. 

We are at war, we say, to protect the weak folk of the 
earth from injustice. As things are, to remain at peace 
with Germany Avould be our lasting shame. But if 
we are to fight with clean hands we must do justice to 
our own weak folk. England, we demand, must do jus- 
tice to Ireland ; Russia must be just to Jews and Finns. 
America must be just to negroes. They are our part of 
a world-test, a world-obligation. 

It is my hope and prayer that in meeting it the South 
will lead the way for Illinois, and for the whole nation. 
(Mrs.) L. H. HAMMOND. 
Dalton, Ga., July 8, 1917. 

Not infrequently we are spoken of as an inferior race, 
and resting upon this assumption, our traducers seem to 
regard themselves justified in treating us with contume- 
ly and scorn. Nay, our murderers, imbued with the 
same spirit, regard it not wi'ong to kill a negro. A little 
reflection on this point may show that we are comely as 
well as black. First of all, the intelligent negro, the 
negro who thinks, and who has read the history of races 
does not accept without qualification the dictum with 
reference to the negro's inferiority. That the negro 
and all the darker races are inferior to the white in in- 
tellectual development and intellectual achievement no 
one, I presume, would undertake to deny; but to assert 
that the negro or any other race is potentially inferior 
is a purely unwarranted assumption. AVhen sixty-six 
years ago, a period well within my own lifetime. Commo- 
dore Perry opened up Japan to commercial relations with 
the civilized world the Japanese were regarded an inferi- 
or race. Would any European or non-European race be 
anxious today to encounter Japan in any struggle where 
brawn and brain were to be the deciding factors in the 
issue? Russia, that mammoth among the nations, tried 
it a few years ago, with what result you all know. There 
are no prouder and higher-spirited people than the Jap- 
anese, none more sensitive to race discrimination. In 
Hearst's Sunday American, for September 17, 1916, ap- 
pears this significant statement: 

11 



In response to the invitation of the Peace Congress, 
held in Oakland, Count Okuma cabled that peace was 
"a fallacy as long as one race considered themselves 
superior to another," and in his speech before the Diet 
he warned his hearers that ''not a day can be lost in 
carrying out the naval repletion program," while Ad- 
miral Kato, the Minister of the Navy, says that ''the 
naval program must take precedence over all others." 

Meanwhile, measured by the stand^ard applicable to 
men everywhere, the negro has no reason to shrink 
from comparison with any class of American citizens. 
Was it not his strong, black arm that felled the forests of 
the South, drained its swamps, tilled its soil, harvested 
its crops, and made cotton king in the marts of the 
world? Or to use the language of an eminent southern 
divine, a noted author and scholar. Dr. James W. Lee, 
pastor in St. Louis, of what is presumably the largest, 
wealthiest and most influential church in southern Meth- 
odism: "The negro was brought to this country without 
his own consent, lived in a state of slavery until 1865, 
and made a contribution to the agricultural wealth of 
the • country perhaps greater than any other race of 
American people." 

Further he says: 

"There never was an anarchist among the negroes. 
They believe in observing the law. and yet anarchists 
like Emma Goldman can stir up sedition, urge insurrec- 
tion against the government, and go practically unmo- 
lested, while the poor negroes in East St. Louis, for no 
other crime than that they wanted to work, were pounced 
upon, many of them beaten to death, their houses 
burned, and they themselves driven from their homes by 
hyenas and tigers in human form. 

"My father was a salve-holder. I was brought up on 
a plantation near Atlanta, Georgia. When my father 
joined the confederate army he left my mother and his 
children on the plantation with no other protection than 
such as the negroes could give. This was true with the 
families of slave-holders all over the South. And yet, 
while the soldiers of the northern armies were fighting 
to free the negroes and the negroes knew it, there has 
never been a case reported where the negroes failed to 

12 . 



be loyal and true to the family of southern soldiers. The 
fidelity of the negroes to the defenseless women and chil- 
dren in the South during the war waged to determine 
whether they should be kept in slavery, has no parallel 
in history. All the meanness the negroes practice today, 
they have learned from mean white folks." 

In times of war surely the negro has been no slacker. 
From the falling of Crispus Attocks in the streets of 
Boston to the calling for an armistice on the part of 
Germany he has been found in the ranks with his face 
to the foe, and nothing but the most flattering state- 
ments have come to us from his commanders. General 
Grant in his memoirs writes with reference to the cap- 
ture of Vicksburg: 

' ' This was the first important engagement of the war 
in which colored troops were under fire. These men were 
very raw, having all enlisted since the beginning of the 
siege, but they behaved well." 

After the Spanish-American war General Wheeler, 
the intrepid cavalry raider of confederate days, said : 

' ' The negroes are among the best soldiers on the earth. 
Only give them commanders as courageous as them- 
selves and they will keep on advancing and keep on 
shooting until something stops them or they are ordered 
to stop." 

It is still fresh in our memories how the troopers of 
the gallant Tenth went singing to their duty and their 
death. 

As to the negroes' conduct in the present war, the 
daily press has kept us informed. Their bravery has 
elicited the most flattering comments from the command- 
ers of the Allies. The only criticism I have noticed is 
that they are too eager to fight and hard to restrain. If 
my memory serves me right, the first war cross given for 
a deed of great daring and prowess, after the Americans 
landed in France, was given to two negroes ; the mag- 
nanimous French commander, going to the cots in the 
hospital where they lay wounded, pinned the crosses on 
their breasts, and kissed their black cheeks. 

Nothing could be more flattering than this letter to 
the colonel of a negro regiment of artillery, from the 

13 



mayor of the town in which the regiment had been sta- 
tioned : 

"From the very day of its arrival, your regiment by 
its behavior and its military appearance, excited the ad- 
miration of us all. Of the sojourn of yourself and your 
colored soldiers among us, we will keep the best memory 
and remember your regiment as a picked one. From the 
beginning a real brotherhood was established between 
your soldiers and our people who are glad to welcome 
the gallant Allies of our France. Having learned to 
know them, the whole population holds them in great es- 
teem and we all join in saying the best of them. I hope 
that the white troops replacing your regiment will give 
us equal satisfaction, but whatever their attitude may 
be, they cannot surpass your 349th Field Artillery." 

As the negro has been held up to the public for years 
as a peculiarly immoral being, this from a reputable 
paper may not be amiss : 

The negro's loyalty in the past is being recalled every- 
where, and his worth as a soldier is emphasized. His 
physical fitness has caused general comment, and has 
helped to refute many of the stereotyped charges made 
against him. It was admitted, in one of the leading 
cities of North Carolina, that in proportion to popula- 
tion the negroes outnumbered the whites on the eligible 
list because the negroes stood better physical examina- 
tions. And only 5 out of 1,300 young negroes examined 
at the Officers' Training Camp at Fort Des Moines last 
summer showed any traces of venereal infection. I 
would not hesitate for a moment to place this record 
against that of any other group of young men anywhere 
in the world. In fact, the war is discovering that the ne- 
gro possesses most of the virtues common to men in gen- 
eral. This for the negro is a tremendous gain. A common 
cause and a common danger are bringing black men and 
white men near enough together to discern their com- 
mon qualities and to awaken mutual respect. The coun- 
try's need is forging a brotherhood of all her defenders. 
The whole town of Woodsville, Ohio, turned out with a 
brass band to accompany its one negro recruit to the 
railroad station. Georgia towns have given dinners to 
their black selected men as well as to the white. The 

14 



mayor of the city of Athens, Georgia, publicly thanked 
the colored people of the city for their loyal response at 
registration for service, and he also thanked the negro 
registrars. 

In my remarks this afternoon you cannot fail to see 
that I have drawn largely on the utterances of others. 
I mean of the white race. I have done so designedly; 
for the Good Book says, "By thy words thou shalt be 
judged, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." 
We are now on the verge of peace, peace after the most 
shocking and devastating war in history. It has taken 
the best in the manhood of the Allies to win this peace. 
The negro, it is admitted, has done his full share, not 
only on the field of battle, but by his contribution of 
millions, yea, tens of millions, to win the war for liberty, 
for humanity. With this admission will the American 
people see to it that the negro enjoys an equitable share 
of the blessings of peace? Let us hope that they will. 
Let us hope that those who fought in the trenches may 
not be debarred from any right belonging to American 
citizens. Surely if there w^as ever a time when men 
should be moved to acts of justice and kindness, it is 
now when the whole earth is mourning over the slain. 
Nor should w^e fail to see God in the midst moving upon 
the hearts of men for a readjustment of human rela- 
tionships. Yes, God is mightily trying out the hearts 
of men for better things, and pointing them to the day 
when we shall need no league of peace, but when the 
frank and full recognition of human brotherhood shall 
be sufficient to protect every man in the enjoyment of 
his rights. 

"Then let us pray that come it may, 
(As come it will for a' that.) 

That Sense and AVorth o'er a' the earth. 
Shall bear the gree. an' a' that. 

For a' that, an'' a' that, 

It's coming yet for a' that. 

That man to man, the wide world o'er, 
Shall brothers be for a' that." 



15 



THE SUBJECT CONTINUED FROM THE NORTH BY HON. D. U.. 
MURPHY OF ELKADER, IOWA 

The exercises of this hour recall vividly to my mind 
two other occasions. The first of these was in July, 
thirty-four years ago. I then had the privilege of lis- 
tening to our gifted fellow-citizen, who has honored this 
occasion with his presence, deliver a notable address be- 
fore the National Educational Association then in session 
at Madison, Wisconsin. That address made a deep im- 
pression upon my mind at the time, and some of the 
thoughts then aroused have always remained with me. 

The second occasion recalled by these exercises is 
that of my first meeting with your distinguished fel- 
low toAvnsman to whose generosity we are indebted for 
this occasion. That was thirty-three years ago. I was 
then in charge of the school in your neighboring town of 
Guttenberg. Mr. Crosby came there on professional 
business and put up at the same private hotel at which 
I was then staying. As he always took a deep interest 
in educational matters, and as I was engaged in the 
work, our conversation naturally drifted to that sub- 
ject. In some manner I referred to the Madison meet- 
ing, and particularly to the address referred to. 

I then learned from Mr. Crosby that he had visited 
Doctor Crogman and his school in one of his tours 
through the South, and much of our conversation turned 
upon the personality of the man. This was the begin- 
ning of an acquaintance which, for more than thirty 
years, has been a source of continual inspiration to me. 
I have always counted myself especially fortunate in 
having, during the early years of professional life in 
this county, been brought into contact with the men who 
then were an honor to the bar of the state, and in the 
foremost ranks of whom stood our distinguished friend. 

This invitation from him to take a part in the exer- 
cises of to-day is but the last of a continued series of' 
kindnesses on his part toward me. 

The people of this town and community have many 
reasons for being grateful. Nature has been very lavish 
indeed in her gifts to this particular spot. Your beauti- 
ful little city, "Garnavillo the Gem of the Prairies,"" 

16 



crowns one of the most fertile portions of this fertile 
state. When motoring over your highways and delight- 
ing in the prospect offered to the eye, one's mind moves 
with the rhythm of the lines of an Iowa poet in a stanza 
which seems peculiarly made for this region : 
"Land of undulating swell, 

Ten thousand thousand acres broad, 
Whose fertile hills and valleys fell 
From the eternal hand of God." 

In addition, however, to these favors which are pe- 
culiarly yours, you enjoj^, with the rest of this great 
country, those blessings which flow from our free gov- 
ernment and free institutions. It is entirely fitting 
therefore that all this should be crowned by that flag 
which was this day raised and is now floating above you 
in the breeze as a symbol of. the ideals of a great people ; 
and to dwell upon the ideals which are thus symbolized 
by that flag in order that we may incorporate and in- 
still into every mind, and particularly into the minds of 
these school children, what this flag has always meant, 
and now means, not to us alone, but to all the Avorld. 

In order to better appreciate what it signifies it is 
necessary to go back to the time when this flag made its 
first appearance and consider the conditions, which up 
to that time had prevailed and which then prevailed 
throughout the world. From the beginning of time we 
see the people everywhere divided into classes. A small 
number had all the rights and privileges and held in 
their hands the powers of government and the adminis- 
tration of the laws ; and the laws were made and admin- 
istered for the benefit and profit and welfare of the gov- 
erning classes. The great masses of people who per- 
formed the labor and bore the heat and burden of their 
times were not considered entitled, as a matter of right, 
to any privileges whatever, and any rights which they 
were permitted to enjoy were to be taken as matters of 
grace given to them by the ruling classes, and not things 
to which they were by right entitled. 

The words of dedication used today, in presenting 
this flag and staff to this town and its people, were 
taken from that great instrument of human rights, "The 

17 



Declaration of Independence." These principles, so 
familiar to us, sounded strange, indeed unthinkable, to 
the nations of the world at the time they were first pro- 
mulgated. They are: 

1st : — ■ That all men are created equal. 

2nd: — That all men, (not any particular classes, but 
all men), are endowed with certain inalienable rights. 
This means rights which men cannot even themselves de- 
prive themselves of. 

3rd : — That among these inalienable rights are the 
right to life, the right to liberty, and the right of each 
individual to seek his happiness in that way which best 
pleases himself, limited only by the recognition of the 
right of his fellowman to do the same. 

4th : — That governments do not exist among men for 
the benefit of any privileged classes who happen to have 
the reins of government in their hands, but that the true 
province of government and its reason for existing is to 
secure these inalienable rights to all men. 

5th : — That these governments derive their just pow- 
ers, not as any direct gift from above, but from the con- 
sent of the people themselves who are governed, and are 
to be administered in such a manner as to secure each 
individual in his just rights. 

Now the central thought of all this is : That all men, 
no matter what their situation, creed, color or race may 
be, have equal rights under the law, and that each man 
has the absolute right to pursue his happiness in his own 
way, without interference from, nor dictation by any 
other man, or class of men ; the only limit being that 
each man must so govern himself in seeking his happi- 
ness as not to interfere with the right of his neighbor to 
the equal pursuit of his happiness. 

This flag which you see so proudly floating above us 
today was first unfurled in the great battle for the es- 
tablishment of these ideas and giving to them a place in 
the sun. It was successful in that, and every citizen of 
this country can take a peculiar pride today in the 
thought that it has never since that first time been un- 
furled in any other cause than for the preservation and 
extension of these ideas, and never for any selfish object 
or end. This was true in 1812, in 1860, and again in 

18 



'98, when we were engaged in war for the purpose of 
securing these ideals forever to our own people and in 
our immediate neighborhood. 

It would indeed be surprising if this flag were not 
again unfurled in the great catastrophe from which we 
are just now emerging as soon as it became clear to us 
that it was a life and death struggle between the old 
class distinctions of pri\dlege and autocracy against the 
very ideals for which this flag made its first appearance 
into the world. 

What a satisfaction is it not to us on this day to rea- 
lize that it was through our aid battling for the ideals 
represented by this grand symbol that the liberty-loving 
peoples of Europe were saved, and the ideas for which 
they fought were made to triumph. The eyes of the 
down-trodden peoples of Europe who have been suffer- 
ing for centuries under the heel of oppressioji, look to 
this flag as their hope and their guide. 

Upon an occasion such as this, when we all thrill with 
pride and patriotism as we behold that beautiful symbol 
floating in the breeze, our minds should be filled with 
thoughts of the grand ideals which it symbolizes and of 
the great results that haA^e been achieved and are daily 
being achieved for the advancement and progress of the 
human race. It is indeed salutary that occasions such as 
this should be used for the purpose of impressing these 
ideals deeply into our minds and souls, so that we may 
be the better able to carry out to the uttermost in our 
daily life and conduct, both as individuals and as a na- 
tion, what we feel so happy to profess. It has unhappily 
always been a source of disappointment to men to find 
individuals and nations lagging in the actual carrying 
out in conduct of the principles and ideals which they 
seem to so religiously proclaim and adhere. 

We all appreciate that if the nations which profess to 
accept as their model the gospel of the Divine Saviour 
would only strive to exemplify in their national conduct 
the doctrines which they profess, we would have been 
spared, not only the holocaust through which we have 
just now passed, but indeed all the other wars whih have 
filled the world with misery and woe for the past nine- 

19 



teen centuries. Too often indeed conduct does not square 
wdtli profession of principles. 

It is therefore highly fitting that such an occasion as 
this be utilized to impress emphatically upon all our 
minds these fundamental ideas. While by so doing we 
do not expect to obtain the full fruitage that should come 
from such principles, yet by constant serious thinking 
upon these things, progress towards perfection is surely 
made. 

In preparing the program for this day's exercises, the 
donor of this flag undoubtedly had this in mind, and 
appreciated the fact that the race to which our distin- 
guished fellow-citizen, who just preceded me, belongs, 
has, during all time in this very country of ours, suffered, 
and still suffers from our failure to live up to the central 
thought represented by this symbol. It is therefore 
natural that this occasion should call attention to this 
particular thought, and that we should here and now 
consecrate ourselves anew to the task of realizing in our 
conduct the equality of opportunity and the ideals of 
freedom and of equal justice to all which our flag sym- 
bolizes, and see that these things are enjoyed by all men 
under its allegiance. 

While the colored race in this country was given its 
freedom and civil rights under the Constitution, as a 
result of the great Civil War of 1861 to 1865, we have 
still occasion to deplore the fact that it has not been 
given its rights as a matter of fact. This is due to race 
prejudice. We are able to understand why such preju- 
dice might exist in the South, by reason of the bitterness 
which grew out of the fact that a dominant and proud 
people were humiliated by defeat in arms, and also by 
the loss of one of its, to that time, cherished institutions. 
That it should exist, however, in the North is without 
any such palliation or excuse. 

Now if we are to live up to our professions as a peo- 
ple, instead of discriminating against the colored man, 
and thus denying him that equal justice and equality of 
opportunity for advancement and progress, for which 
this flag stands, we owe him more even than a passive 
recognition of and non-interference with these rights. 
He is positively entitled to generosity at our hands. In 

20 



the presence of this flag, and at this time, when as a re- 
sult of the achievements of our people and of the re- 
sources of our country, the nations of the world are 
being invited to a feast of justice ; when the thought that 
justice shall be the governing principle of the world, and 
that all peoples shall be entitled to have their rights re- 
spected and have justice equally administered, both as 
between individuals and as between peoples, it is indeed 
proper to demand and insist that justice be done this 
race which deserves so highly at our hands. 

Ordinarily, all that is required is that people shall 
keep their hands off, and secure a free and open field. 
That is not sufficient if we wish to do justice to the ne- 
gro. Why? Because we brought him here nearly 300 
years ago and kept him in a state of bondage for nearly 
250 years. What does that mean? What does it mean 
to a people to be kept in slavery to the will of others? 
What does it mean never to be permitted to think a 
thought above his own servile condition ? It cannot help 
but brutalize a man and bring to the surface the worst 
elements of his nature. His judgment remains warped 
and undeveloped; his mind is destroyed and his soul 
dwarfed. 

The Anglo-Saxon race, which now holds its head so 
high, and takes a just pride in its achievements of the 
last few centuries, can look back to the time, only a few 
hundred years ago, in England, when its forbears wore 
on their necks the collars of their masters and were sold 
with the land they cultivated like the cattle and the 
beasts of the field, and it took them centuries to rise 
from that position to their now high level. 

Man can only grow in the atmosphere of freedom. 
Freedom is to man what the sunlight is to the plant. 
This is why men in all ages have so cried out for liberty 
whenever their voices could find utterance. During all 
the ages of oppression souls illumined by their own in- 
ward light felt cramped by this and cried oft against it. 

Listen to Burns, whose sensitive soul chafed under the 
insults suffered from those who were not worthy to un- 
latch his shoe buckles: 



21 ^ 



''If I'm designed by nature's law, 

Yon lordling's slave designed, 
Then why was independent wish 

E'er planted in my mind; 
If not, why am I subject 

To his cruelty and scorn, 
Or why has man the will and power 
To make his fellow mourn." 
We who have always enjoyed these rights do not ap- 
preciate what they are. While we sing that great song 
of freedom inspired by the French Revolution, The Mar- 
seillaise, do we feel the thrill of those who first cried out, 
and of those in Europe who now for the first time are 
crying out : 

"Oh, Liberty! Can man resign thee, 
Once having felt thy generous flame 1 
Can dungeons, bolts or bars confine thee, 
Or whips thy noble spirit tame?" etc. 
These men were kept in bondage and by their labors 
the land enriched for nearly 250 years. We can ima- 
gine their condition when granted freedom. In spite of 
all this we marvel at the progress that they made in a 
short time after the gates of opportunity were opened to 
them. Men of this race appeared the equals of any and 
took their places as scholars and in the various walks of 
life with the best of other races. They were without 
means. They could not enter upon the lands, nor into 
the business or industrial life of the country in any other 
capacity than that of the most common of laborers, and 
they were without education. We are responsible for 
that condition, and the duty of making reparation was 
upon us, and is still upon us. 

Now the first thing necessary in order that justice be 
done, and as a fundamental to all progress, is the doing 
away with all race prejudice. This is the root of all the 
other evils. From that comes the snubbings, the insults, 
and the indignities to which this people is so often sub- 
jected. In our situation these things are not often seen 
by us, but they are daily occurrences wherever the mem- 
bers of this race live in any large numbers. 

Even so distinguished a body as the American Bar 

22 



Association is guilty of making a discrimination against 
its members. There is a spirit of caste which is unchris- 
tian and which l)ars and bolts to those against whojii it 
stands, the doors of opportunity. 

This is a sin against the spirit of justice Avhich we hear 
proclaimed on every tongue to-day and an insult to the 
Flag which we loudly proclaim as the symboLr. which 
stands for equal justice to all. Whenever we permit our 
prejudices against our fellowman, on account of his race, 
color or creed, to cause us to do things which bar him 
and his children from their equal opportunity in the 
battle of life with others, we are committing a crime 
against our national ideals and insulting this flag. 

For others wdio have never suffered from servitude, it 
may be enough to leave the way open, because they have 
an even start in life, but as stated, we owe him more. 
He did not have his even start. He was handicapped 
by 250 years of slavery imposed on him by us, and if we 
pretend to do justice w^e must do more than open the 
gates of opportunity. We must help him to get on his 
feet, so that he may be able to take an even start with 
those with whorii he is to compete. How is this to be 
done? Chiefly by providing all members of that race 
with the means of obtaining suitable education. Not an 
education that will fit him to hold an office, nor to dress 
up and play the so-called gentleman, but an education 
which will fit him for an honorable place in the various 
work of the world; and for the greater number of all 
races indeed this means a fair elementary and industrial 
or agricultural education, an education which will in- 
spire him with the dignity of labor and open to him the 
avenues of progress along these lines. 

Among other things which we may confidently look 
forward to with the coming of peace is a fuller spirit of 
brotherhood amxOng men. If men's thoughts and feel- 
ings for the rights of their fellow-men everywhere are 
not quickened and purified by this great world deluge, 
so that in future we may dwell in this regard on a high- 
er plane than that on which we dwelt in the past, then 
we can count the sacrifices made as having been largely 
lost. No such sacrifices, however, can be made and not 
bring forth results. 

23 



We already see signs of the new era of hope for the 
better recognition of the rights and privileges of all men. 
In this country the leaders of labor, the leaders of in- 
dustry and all who have the permanent welfare of the 
country and of humanity at heart, are giving daily ex- 
pression through the press to these demands of justice. 
Conctructive work along educational lines has already 
been b^gun, which will instill into the minds of all right 
notions and ideas of the dignity of labor and the price- 
less value of service. All these things justify us in look- 
ing with confidence to an epoch of better feeling among 
all races, and all peoples ; to a time when narrowness and 
prejudice, which inevitably bring wrongs and injustice 
in their train, shall be things of the past, and thus the 
Constitutions and Laws of the people, founded upon the 
ideals represented by this symbol, will in practice, as 
well as in theory, be the embodiments and guarantors of 
liberty, justice and equality and freedonm for all. 

BENEDICTION BY REV. K. W. BRAUN 

The Lord bless you and keep you ; the Lord make his 
face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you; the 
Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you 
peace. Amen. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




016 086 713 9 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

I iiiiii mill II 



016 086 713 9 u 




Hollinfier 



